Accompanying the UK BBC2 series, 'Ancient Rome' presents an authoritative but accessible big-picture narrative of the most influential empire in history. The book focuses on the pivotal moments in Roman history and introduces us to some of Rome's most thrilling personalities Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, Augustus, Nero and Constantine in a fast-paced, plot driven narrative. uthor Simon Baker gets beneath the skin of distant figures from ancient history and asks what the Romans were really like. They will not be presented as distant figures in dusty togas; rather, by exploring their motivation and their mind-sets, this book brings them alive. It explores what the Roman world has in common with today's modern world. At the same time, however, it explores the fascinating and surprising ways in which the Romans were completely different in their outlook and values. How did a small city state without any obvious strategic advantages come to be ruler of the whole Mediterranean? How did the democratic system of the Roman Republic collapse during a hundred years of civil strife? How did Augustus persuade the Romans that he had restored the old Republic whereas in fact he had establis

Author Biography

Simon Baker read Classics at Oxford University. In 1999 he joined the BBC's award-winning History Unit where he has worked on Timewatch and a wide range of programmes about the classical world. He is the Development Producer on the BBC One series Ancient Rome - The Rise and Fall of an Empire. This is his second book. Mary Beard is a Professor of Classics at Cambridge University and a Fellow of Newnham College. She has written widely on the history and culture of the ancient (and modern) world. Her most recent books are The Parthenon and (with Keith Hopkins) The Colosseum. She is Classics Editor of the Times Literary Supplement and her major study of the Roman Triumph will be publishes by Harvard University Press in 2007.